De pænultima die

I've just come back from my last EF Mass here in Nantes, that of the feast of St Polycarp, so the priest, the fantastic Abbé Roseau, was wearing beautiful red vestments.
Being the shy soul that I am, I had never really introduced myself to the priests or indeed anyone at the parish. It was only last week that someone approached me whom I'd met before. They had no idea I attended the EF on such a regular basis (my attendance has been pretty much daily over the past two weeks). However, I leave Nantes on Thursday so the man and the woman whom I knew invited me to lunch after Mass on Sunday. What a delightful Sunday it was. It was so peaceful that it really pained me to think that I'd only have one such Sunday, and that this won't happen again.

I am so grateful to the priests at the parish and I thank God for them, Abbé Roseau and Abbé Jouachim. I could not leave without expressing this gratitude and so I bought a card, bearing the name St Clément (the name of the church) and wrote a sentence or two (in French of course) expressing my thanks to them for these my first experiences at the EF of the Mass. My original intention was to just leave it lying there on one of the tables at the back of the Church under the noticeboard but then I decided I would hand it to M. l'abbé Roseau personally for several reasons. Firstly, the card could lie there for weeks without anyone noticing. Secondly, it could be picked up by someone else. Thirdly, even if they did get the card, they would probably have no idea who I am, and would probably just seem rather strange. And finally, I don't think it would truly express my gratitude if I just left it lying for them, rather than actually having a conversation with them. So I waited until the priest heard a few Confessions and finished his prayers, and then approached him. I think he did recognise me, and if he didn't immediately, he will have recognised the same voice who stumbles through confessions in awkward French, often not making much sense. I gave him the card and he inquired as to what it was, and then I told him that I was leaving Nantes. He asked a few more questions and then just as I was going out of those thick double doors one finds in churches to keep the heat in, he said he would like to give me a blessing for my travels. It was totally unexpected but I really felt like this is what it must be like to live in a country which still has some dregs of a Catholic culture. In Scotland, I often feel as though we are just meant to be grateful that the Church is allowed to operate in such a presbyterian country, and so never mind all these traditions such as blessings, churching of women, house blessings and the like. So finally, I'd like to thank God for the thousands of opportunities He has given me while here in Nantes, and I am ever so grateful to Him.

Benedictus Jesus Christus, verus Deus et verus homo. Benedictum Cor ejus sacratissimum!

(Abbé Roseau also has a blog describing his journey on making his own hosts for Mass. You can find it here. I've also already posted a link to the Nantes FSSP website where you can see the two priests in action.)